Anniversary
by Aiden Ravelle
Summary: It's Takeru's birthday and he starts showing signs of his ghost powers again. Set after the show.


I've watched the whole show, so some spoilers. Not seen the movies though. I don't own Kamen Rider. Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

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"Hey kid, wake up," Takeru felt a nudge against him and rolled over noticing the cat Yurusen at his side.

"Yurusen?" he muttered, trying to blink sleep out of his eyes. He sat up and wondered, "Did you just talk?"

Yurusen nudged him again and Takeru was taken back to Yurusen's memory, "If you think I know everything then you're dead wrong."

Takeru laid back in the bed, "That must be my memory right, it's been months since I've seen someone' else's memory."

Takeru thought he saw Yurusen shrug but he wrote it off, getting up and changing for the day.

Leaving the room, he noticed Onari and Akari hanging up a banner that said, "Happy Birthday, Takeru."

"Am I going to celebrate a birthday every six months now?" Takeru wondered out loud surprising them both.

"Well it's not everyday that you are born, and it's not everyday you get brought back to life, so yes probably," Akari said.

"It's also the anniversary of you becoming a Kamen Rider," Onari responded, trying to forget that also meant the anniversary of Takeru's first death.

"A lot has happened in the last year," he put his hand on Onari's shoulder and shuddered, seeing Onari's memory of Takeru getting killed by what they couldn't see.

After a few seconds of silence Akari asked, "Are you alright?"

Takeru nodded, "I'm going to go train."

He had graduated a few weeks back, having done extra work to catch up for his six months off. Being out of school though, left nothing but training at the temple. He knew eventually he would take over from Gramps as head priest, so he had to focus on training, but he also knew that today at least, his heart wasn't into it.

Takeru had been missing his friends recently as well as wondering where he fit in. Makoto, Alain, and Kanon were all making the Ganma world a better place. New friends like Cubi, were back to normal in the Ganma world. Akari, who did spend a lot of time at the temple, was hyper focused into her science projects. Onari was learning from Gramps. Shibuya and Narita had gone off with Jabel on a training journey. Which just left Takeru. He knew he had to finish up school, which he did, but after having been a Kamen Rider, saving people, this all seemed irrelevant. He also knew it's what he had wanted, or at least what everyone else had wanted, so he knew he had to stick with his choice to live; he just wasn't sure what to do in a slump like this. He hadn't even seen the heroes since that day.

He sat down to meditate hoping that clearing his mind would bring answers, but soon Akari came outside, "Takeru? Takeru?"

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Takeru?" she asked again. He stood right in front of her waving his hand. She ran right through him and went to look in their old hiding place.

Takeru stood there staring at his hands, "I'm invisible?"

He ran inside to where Gramps was meditating, "What's going on with me?"

Gramps, who had his eyes closed still answered, "Like I said, Miracle Boy, I have no idea what happened to you after the first 99 days, try asking the Great Eye."

After a few seconds of silence, Akari ran in, "Gramps, have you seen Takeru?"

"Have I _seen_ him? No. However he told me that he was going to go meditate in the forest. He'll be back at some point," Gramps responded.

Takeru took that as a sign to leave, hoping he would be able to figure out what was going on. He didn't mind having ghost powers, but he had thought he was a normal human now, leaving him very confused.

He found a good spot in the forest and sat down, "How do I gather the great eye without the hero eyecons?" He asked out loud. As if to answer him the heroes appeared.

"We said we'd always be here by your side if you need us," Musashi replied.

The fifteen heroes lined up and then floated into place, creating a giant seal in the sky. Takeru floated up, unsure how he would word his questions.

"What is your wish?" The eye asked.

"Please answer my question," he plead.

"Go on then," it replied.

"After I made my wish, you gave me a body, so I thought I was alive. Now I'm invisible and it's like I'm a ghost again. What is going on?"

"I did give you a body, you will live and the body will age. You can eat, and have children, and everything else humans do. But I could not change your soul. Your soul had already been connected to human potential, letting you see memories and feeling others emotions. You had been a ghost so long; your soul has those powers, invisibility and floating, and anything else you could do. Your soul will live on infinitely, long after your body has gone, but this gives you a chance to do what you had wanted with your life. You just need to figure out what you want to do with eternity."

"Why did it take this long to show these powers then?" Takeru was unsure of how he felt and unsure the eye would answer more.

"Your soul was getting used to the confines of a physical shape again, and your body getting used to the powers inside of it," it replied.

Suddenly, Takeru felt himself begin to drop from the sky and he focused on floating slowly, just like he had when the heroes carried him down. He slowed himself and felt the air breeze through him. He reached the ground and landed balanced on his feet with his arms out.

"Thank you," he spoke out to the heroes as they vanished once again.

He walked, unsure where his feet were leading him, as he contemplated, "What do I do with all of eternity?"

He found himself in front of Grandma Fumi's takoyaki stand, now run by her granddaughter.

"Hi Takeru, here," she handed him a box. He realized he was visible once more and smiled and gave thanks and sat down on a bench nearby. He noticed an older man sitting on another bench looking around, and Takeru gave him a small smile.

As soon as he did, the man approached him slowly, "You can see me?"

Takeru nodded and asked, "Do others not see you?"

The man shook his head, "You see, I died a few months ago, but I wanted to watch over my granddaughter. She's doing fine now and has a nice young man to protect her. I've just been wandering now, unsure where to go and what to do."

"I understand. What would you do if you could live forever?" Takeru pondered.

"I guess to some extent that is what I'm doing now, though no one else knows it. I'd probably catch up on a few of my dramas," the man joked, "and then," he thought, "I'd probably give my time to better causes like helping others. I'm not sure how to do that like this though," he confessed.

Takeru thought about the man's words as they talked a bit more, 'Helping others, there will always be people on this planet who need help and guidance,' Takeru thought, gaining more hope and positivity than he'd felt all day.

"You've helped me already," Takeru assured the man.

"I'm glad," the man smiled from the bottom of his heart, "Just focus on the now and enjoy the life you have while you have it."

"Do you want to move on to the afterlife?" Takeru wondered.

"I've done what I can do here, it's time for another adventure," the man said as Takeru put out his hand. He focused on the man's desire and the ghost started to rise from the earth.

"Thank you boy, for your help," the man waved.

"Thank you," Takeru yelled to the sky, thinking of all the lives he had already helped, knowing his purpose was to help more.

"I think you have a party to get to," he heard, but could not find anyone around him.

He headed toward his home arriving to find a lot of friends waiting for him, "Surprise!" they said greeting him with hugs.

"How's the Ganma world coming along?" He asked Makoto and Alain.

"We've made a lot of changes," Makoto replied.

"Everything has gotten brighter, and the sky is now a beautiful shade of green. It may not be like earth, but it's becoming more like it," Alain replied.

"Alain was also crowned King," Kanon came up hugging Alain's arm.

"And Makoto is now Magistrate," Alain informed.

"A good position," Gramps put his hand on Makoto's shoulder, "Takeru, did you find what you needed today?"

"I think so," he nodded.

When the little group looked confused Takeru just told them, "Just some special training."

"Takeru!" Akari voiced loudly silencing the room.

He turned to look at her, as she was pointing to the TV which spoke, "News reports say there was a mysterious symbol in the sky, one reporter caught it on camera," the television showed the great eye appearing in the sky as well as a floating light coming down from it.

"Master Takeru, do you have anything to do with this?" Onari asked excitedly.

The whole room turned toward him as he feigned innocence, "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

"Gramps said you were meditating in the forest, and that happened above the forest," Akari said, "There has to be a correlation."

Yurusen used his tail to click off the TV, and Takeru used that as a distraction to change the subject, "Let's eat!"

"Fine, but we are discussing this. I will find out," Akari temporarily conceded.

"Special training, huh?" Makoto asked quietly.

"Nothing to worry about guys," Takeru told the other two riders.

"I'm proud of you son," Ryu appeared in the doorway. Gramps and Takeru turned back around to face him while the group who couldn't see him sat down around the table.

Gramps nodded to his old friend.

"Come on guys," Akari told them but Makoto shook his head at her. He didn't see who they were looking at but could sense someone there.

Ryu continued, "I've helped you live on, and now I think it's time for me to finally move on to the afterlife. Let your life shine brightly and help others around you, both the living and those needing to pass on from this world. You've grown into a fine man, and you have wonderful people around you. Never forget the lessons you've learned."

Takeru nodded, a few tears coming to his eyes. He had watched his dad die already but this was a bittersweet moment.

"Happy birthday Takeru," his dad held out a photo album and gave him a hug before starting to float off toward the afterlife.

"Thank you," Takeru wiped at his eyes. After they couldn't see him, Gramps put his arm around Takeru who gave a small smile and gained his composure again.

"Like I said, let's eat," he put the photo album on a nearby table.

"Can you see real ghosts?" Alain asked.

"You can't?" Takeru wondered.

"I can sense them, but we could only see the Ganma, unless of course they want to be seen," Makoto admitted.

"Was that your dad?" Kanon asked quietly.

Takeru nodded.

"I want to see the master!" Onari jumped up.

Akari pulled him back down, "If they can't see ghosts, why can you two?"

"They've trained hard, it's a sign of a top priest," Onari informed her.

"Takeru is still training though," Akari talked back.

"Well it's a funny story," Takeru told her, wishing he didn't have to have this conversation now, "that we can discuss later.

"Takeru," Akari said frustrated.

He sighed in response, "It turns out, I'm basically a ghost in a living body."

"Aren't we all?" Alain wondered confused.

"Everyone is a soul in a living body, and then the soul goes to the afterlife or becomes a ghost. Most ghosts can still go on to the afterlife," he didn't mention that his couldn't because he didn't want to worry his friends with matters like that. "It turns out I was given my body back, but still am technically a ghost, all powers included," he confessed to his friends.

"That shouldn't be scientifically possible," Akari decided.

"After everything you've seen, do you not think it possible?" Onari wondered.

"Not until I've seen proof," she replied, to which Takeru decided to turn invisible. He then grabbed a piece of Takoyaki off the table.

He turned visible again, "Again, let's eat, I'm starving."

They nodded in response, and started passing the food around, though still a little confused.

Takeru smiled; happy he now had a new purpose as well as having great friends to spend his birthday with.

"If you need anything just let us know," Makoto and Kanon told him as they were leaving.

"Come visit some time," Alain invited as he opened a portal to their world.

"Bye," the group waved back.

"We need to sleep," Gramps informed Onari, "we have the early training tomorrow."

Takeru went down and sat at his desk and opened the photo album. There were pictures of his parents, as well as some of him as a child. There was a note in the back, "We are always here when you need us and we are always proud. You have infinite potential; just remember to believe in yourself."

"You've had a long day haven't you?" Akari sensed, coming in behind him.

He was tired, but figured she'd keep asking so he gave her a rundown of his day.

"I'm glad you are here with us," she confessed, "Talk to us next time, instead of going off on your own. It reminded me too much of last year."

"I didn't mean to worry you, but that was what I was trying to avoid. I wasn't sure myself so I didn't want to bring it up and worry you without reason," he told her, "especially on the anniversary of my death."

She gave him a small hug and handed him a small package. He opened it to reveal a necklace with twenty five little charms beaded in. Fifteen for the heroes; three for Ghost, his orange helmet, his red helmet, and his infinity helmet; one of Yurusen in ghost form; a small symbol for Onari; a small symbol for Akari; one for Kanon; a charm of Specter's helmet for Makoto; and a charm for Necrom's helmet for Alain; and finally one saying friends, representing everyone else along their journey.

"Thank you," he was overcome with emotion.

"This way, we are always with you," she told him.

He put it around his neck as she started to walk up the stairs, "Happy birthday Takeru."


End file.
